Whit's World: High-tech/high-touch launch
1 Sep, 2008 By: Marty Whitford Landscape ManagementLife's landscape, chock-full of peaks and valleys, is best traversed together. That's why we're launching LM Landscape Makeover, a video podcast program where we can join forces to show the world our community's commitment to giving back.
 Marty Whitford |
Debuting next summer, LM Landscape Makeover podcasts will document how landscape, design-build, irrigation and lawn care professionals are coming together to help families in need. The inaugural episode of LM Landscape Makeover will feature our "Green Industry Givers" partaking in a comprehensive home-and-yard renovation already in the planning stages (search for HUGE Heart Home Makeover on www.Cleveland.com for details). We hope to tag team on a few LM Landscape Makeover projects each year.
The 1st Family
Over the past two decades, Adam Gaspar helped nearly a dozen families renovate their homes free of charge. Gaspar doesn't regret for a moment his lifetime spent putting others first, but the Clevelander is a little worried for his close-knit clan these days.
A few days after last Thanksgiving, a doctor informed the now-42-year-old father of six, ages 11 to 21, that he has a terminal brain tumor. The doctor gave Gaspar six to 12 months to live — and that was with brain surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
"I always enjoyed helping others work on their homes and yards. It just never crossed my mind that I wouldn't have the time to work on our property," Gaspar says.
I'm a little biased about the Gaspars being worthy of our first LM Landscape Makeover. (Gaspar's been my friend since the first grade). But you don't have to just take my word for it. ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EMHE) selected the Gaspars as one of just 25 finalists from more than 4,000 Ohio applicants. On April 21, EMHE filmed the family for three hours.
The EMHE visit was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy week. A few days before the visit, 18-year-old Monika Gaspar was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Two days after the camera crew left, an oncologist informed her dad — just five months into his battle — the tumor had spread to the pons area of the brain stem, which regulates breathing, and he gave my buddy one to four weeks to live.
That was April 23, and I'm happy to report that with a lot of prayers and heroic battling, The Big Guy (6 ft., 8 in.) continues to prove his doctor wrong.
In July, EMHE selected another worthy Ohio family. We're now seeking commitments of money, materials and labor to make over the Gaspars' home, turf and landscape. Please email me for details.
"It would really mean the world to me if we could lift this huge burden — the disrepair of our home and yard — off Ann's shoulders," Gaspar says of his wife. "She'll have enough to handle with five of our six children still in school."
Contact Marty at 216/706-3766 or e-mail at
mwhitford@questex.com
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